[Describing A Midsummer Night's Dream as similar to a fertility rite, Gamer discusses the sexual, psychological, and social implications if Shakespeare's comedy. More than a simple celebration if erotic love, the play, Gamer maintains, reflects certain attitudes characteristic of male-dominated societies. For example, a woman s entire existence, particularly her sexual and emotional life, is controlled by a powerful male figure, as illustrated by Egeus's almost incestuous possessiveness toward his daughter Hermia. Further. the extent of a woman's sexual and emotional freedom, Garner argues, is determined by male desire. Thus conventional heterosexual love flourishes only if certain conditions, determined by the male protagonists, are satisfied. For example, a woman must sever all her emotional ties with other women to assuage her husband's fears of possible rejection. As Gamer concludes, "the male characters think they can keep their women only if they divide and conquer them Only then will...